


Five times Valkyrie didn’t kiss Thor and one time she did

by Bellatrix_the_black



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Happy Ending, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2019-12-30 12:02:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18314900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellatrix_the_black/pseuds/Bellatrix_the_black
Summary: Brunnhilde's damaged heart starts to heal itself when she meets the asgardian golden heir so far from home. Will she open up about her feelings, or will it be too late?





	1. Two people army

**Author's Note:**

> There will be six chapters, I hope you enjoy!

**Five times Valkyrie didn’t kiss Thor**  
_And one time she did_

 

For centuries Brunnhilde had been fighting alone, **one woman army** against the cruel world of Sakaar. It was always either kill or die, capture or be captured, not that her old life as a Valkyrie was any different.

She was a skilled warrior and it was her abilities alone that made her live for so long in this wild place. She built a reputation for herself and everyone who had their mind in the right place would rather avoid her anger and her vengeance.

It was her job to capture the best champions for the arena, a job she exceeded herself every time which granted her the best place beside the Grandmaster, providing her comfort, fun and a luxurious life in a trash planet where unlucky creatures had to slice each other necks for bread crumbs.

She didn’t give her life much thought: she didn’t waste a second considering her actions, she had lost faith in good and evil - heaven and hel - a long time ago. She had lived in both ends and none were worthy her time anymore. Worthiness never served for anything and she had lost everything for having faith once. Never she would have faith again.

And then he showed up. 

It was like Asgard itself came to haunt her once peaceful dreams and there was no escaping him.  
He was life itself, the sun, the golden heir of a not so forgotten land that she fought hard to leave behind.  
He wouldn’t let her forget who she was and where was her loyalty, her stance, her origins.

Naturally, Brunnhilde did everything she could to get rid of him in a desperate attempt to get rid of her own past.  
Deep inside, she knew he was right, and his presence here reminded her of everything she had been, of everything she lost and left behind.  
Thor represented everything she had loved, lost and hated all at the same time and her heart was in conflict.

It took her endless nights waking in the dark, reciting the words he told her, words she wanted to erase from her mind, but she couldn’t: _you must be a traitor or a coward because the Valkyrie are sworn to protect the throne._  
She knew she was both.

His hope and his shine was contagious and it started to take root in her cold heart.  
When she realized there was no beating his optimism, his faith and his hope, she considered him a suicidal fool. 

“Asgard is in danger and people are dying,” his concern was sincere, “we need to get back there. I need your help.”

A fool she would follow until the end of the worlds themselves for he had awakened in her something that had been hidden under layers of pain, remorse and guilty: hope.

“I turned down the throne. But this isn't about the crown. This is about the people. They're dying and they're your people, too.”

Brunnhilde huffed, not quite believing what she was about to do. 

“You know, go ahead. Stay here and get drunk and enslave people for that lunatic. Keep drinking. Keep hiding.”  
His teasing was all it took for her to try and prove him wrong.

When he was tearing a ship apart using his bare hands, she saw in him - finally - the same level of endurance and persistence she shared with her sisters. He was **one man army himself**. Together they could conquer anything they wanted 

They jumped back together in the ship and for a moment, Brunnhilde was prone to taste what Asgard felt like after all this time, so fresh and powerful and golden in front of her.  
Thor probably knew what were her intentions, a cocky grin on his face as licked his lips as if anticipating a kiss. She rolled her eyes and followed the mission: today was a day to fight to retrieve her old bruised self.


	2. Don’t die, your Majesty

Going back to Asgard after so long was something she believed she would never do again. Seeing the golden city in front of her was like a dream, or a nightmare.   
This place had given her everything and took everything from her at the same time.

It seemed like time had stopped in the realm eternal and if Brunnhilde ignored her scars, she could pretend it was still the same morning when a tired King Odin summoned the Valkyrior, telling them it was their mission to stop his heir at all cost.

Brunnhilde remembered nodding as their leader transmitted the King’s order, she looked over at the throne where Odin sat in stunned silence. It was said Hela was insane, hungry for power and bloodshed. But they all knew what was Hela’s main goal: to destroy the new heir, the tiny bundle in the Queen’s arms.

She hadn’t seen the baby, but she knew it was a boy and it was Frigga’s love that had changed Odin’s view on the worlds, on life itself, on love. She knew that love was a powerful and mysterious engine.   
Hela wouldn’t accept that sudden change of behavior and she attributed that change to Frigga and Thor.

Yes, Thor, that was his name.  
He wasn’t a baby anymore, he was currently flying them back to certain death, towards his sister who had destroyed Brunnhilde’s whole life and who wanted Thor dead more than anything else.

Some would say he was insane, and she was even more insane for following him into this, but she knew better: she had seen that same glint of hope and purpose before, in her own eyes when she was young and loyal.   
In her sisters’ eyes when they were fighting for what was right. 

She would follow him to hel itself if it was necessary.  
Asgard stood tall and proud when they approached the castle.   
Hela was there waiting for Thor to come and they all knew she was way more powerful than him, older, meaner, colder.   
He didn’t stand a chance.

“Alright, drop me off at the palace and I'll draw her away,” Thor told her, nonchalantly. 

“And get yourself killed?” She insisted, trying to reason with him. 

“The people trapped down there are all that matters. While I'm dealing with Hela, I need you two to help get everyone off Asgard.”

He had a point and she decided she had to have faith, to see with her own eyes where this all would lead. He was fighting for a fair cause, and she hadn’t seen a fair cause in centuries.

“I found this in the armory,” she was distracted and hadn’t noticed that Thor had a bundle of fabric with gold and white plating. Wide eyed, she looked at him in disbelief, where did he find it? It couldn’t be true. Brunnhilde had never seen those again and she planned to never put her eyes again on something that meant so much.

She accepted the bundle with reverence, her emotions betraying her. She was affected by her old armor, as if her old life was coming back to her, offered to her by Thor. She could almost hear her sisters’ calling when she looked at Thor, and now she was on the verge of losing him too, watching him moving away from her ship.

"Your majesty," she called in an urgent tone. He looked back at her with an unreadable expression, brighter than the palace behind him, more golden than the sun itself. She was out of words, she wanted to give him something to remind her, but her ship was drifting away.

“Don't die,” she pleaded and she swore she saw the tiniest nod, “you know what I mean.”


	3. Long live the King

Asgard was a people, of that she was certain again.  
Gone the Castle, the golden city, the glorious hall, still, they stood as one, one people, one family, one heart. She had forgotten this feeling of belonging somewhere, what a family was supposed to be like.

Heimdall nodded at her and it seemed to her that the Guardian had not aged one day. He had turn his gaze away from her by her own demand, she respected that. 

They really made a strange group, Thor’s trickster brother, Loki, who looked at his brother Thor with strange admiration. The Hulk, controlled now, knowing this was something important. Brunnhilde felt alive again in her old armor, feeling more like herself than she did in ages.

There was a feeling of optimism in the air, of happiness even, considering what happened to their Home. They were together now and the future never seemed so bright at the hands of a brighter King, a King she would proudly call her own.

Thor came through the crowd of asgardians and sakaarians alike. He had a handmade eye patch that covered a gaping wound that had Brunnhilde fearing for his life. 

His head held high, he came forward to claim his place among them. People weren’t cheering or calling his name, there was a reverent silence, humbly bowing as he walked past them.

Brunnhilde felt an emotion unlike any she had ever felt. She had stopped believing in love when her life partner was murdered by Hela’s cold hands but, looking at Thor, she could feel her heart racing and her cheeks redning. 

She felt ridiculous, she probably looked ridiculous, but when he looked at her and smiled that smile of his, she felt the walls she built around her heart starting to crumble.   
With him she could have hope again, a family again, love again. All at once. 

“Your throne,” she told him, without the mocking tone in her voice. She started to believe she could live again and follow a King’s order only and if only that King was Thor.

Thor was uncertain, she could see. The hesitation in his movements. Heavy was the head that wore the crown, she had been told. Thor had told her himself he had refused the throne before. She had learned that those most apt to take the throne normally didn’t want that job for themselves.

She knew in her heart there would be no better King for Asgard, or a better leader for their people. Thor had the biggest heart she had ever seen and she would do everything she could to help him to carry that burden, knowing this was what he was born to be.  
Thor was contemplative, knowing what the throne meant. He looked for guidance from Brunnhilde and she didn’t feel like she deserved that honor, to be so idolized by a Prince that was now King who grew up listening to tales of her glorious battles.

They were so different and yet, she found everything she didn’t know she needed in him, in his eyes, in his smile and his faith. Nodding at him, she tried to convey the message that this was right, that he would be a great King.

Thor seemed to take that hint and, passing by her, sat down on the Captain chair. She was sure this wasn’t what he had in mind when he thought about this day, but she was so proud of him she was sure her heart would burst from her chest.

This was the King she would follow anywhere, and her faith in the royal family, in Asgard, was renewed because of Thor. She wanted really hard to hug him, to kiss him, to bow to him, to tell him she was proud of him and sorry at the same time about everything he’s been through, but she didn’t utter a word.   
Instead she kept her silent vigil by his side, watching the skies unfolding in front of them as he decided where they would go next.


	4. Pain and alcohol

The blow to Asgard was enormous. Families were destroyed, orphans cried in the corridors. It was their job to list them and put them in lines to share what few resources they had, prioritizing the children and wounded. Thor was working non stop to listen to solicitations, to provide blankets and food to everybody, to have the healers taking care of the wounded asgardians and sakaarians alike. He could be seen running up and down the ship, carrying children and creatures, shouting orders, bringing water and medication.

There were many wounded. While Hela killed their whole army, it was up to untrained citizens to protect their Home. Brunnhilde had seen their attempt to stop the witch, but she was no match for any of them, she had almost killed Thor and he was the most powerful among them.

Once the wounded were taken care of and the unaccompanied children were given provisory families, Brunnhilde noticed that Thor had excused himself to one of the compartments. She took it he was tired of the long day of fighting, in fact, so was she.

She wanted to have some time alone with Thor and maybe let him know how she felt and how alive she felt, but she certainly needed some alcohol to boost her confidence and hide her awkwardness and shame. She suspected Thor felt the same way.

Finding booze in the ship was easy. The supply was endless and she grabbed a bottle and followed the path Thor had made earlier, longing to find him alone.

A pained groan had her stopping in her tracks, readying her sword. She pressed her ear to a door, listening close. Another moan, unmistakably Thor’s, and she pushed the door open with her shoulder, sword at ready to kill anyone who dared to harm her King.

To her surprise - and embarrassment - Thor was sitting in a chair with his head tilted backward, a group of healers busy around him. He turned his gaze to Brunnhilde.

“It’s alright,” he told her in a soothing tone, but the pain in his voice had her coming closer, worried, cursing herself for not seeing sooner that his situation was getting worse.  
All of those who were injured in the fight had already been given proper treatment: everyone but Thor, who had refused any medicamental aid, claiming they were running short on supplies and they shouldn’t waste it on him.

“I will heal eventually,” he had assured the team. But it wasn’t the case and the healers were concerned about his situation when he collapsed before reaching the compound after they were done tending to the wounded. He had been given some water and lead to a chair, looking like he was about to die.

“She had a necrosword, meant to kill Gods. His wounds are strange to us,” one of the healers had said and Brunnhilde could see Thor flinching in the chair. Without his heavy armor, down to breeches and a blood stained tunic, he looked small, young and helpless.

She hurried to him and took his cold hand between hers. Thor gave her a comforting squeeze and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes: in situations where he was the one who needed comfort, he still worried about her and the others.

“I will be fine,” he insisted, but Brunnhilde had a clear view of his wounds and the sight had her closing her eyes shut. Hela had sliced him up across his chest, his arms, his neck, his back. It seemed like the armor was the only thing holding his body together and without it, he was bleeding profusely, a mixture of blood and poison oozing from cuts made by the sword’s blade.

Thor was pale, gritting his teeth, sweating, his golden complex turning gray, his lips purple. Brunnhilde felt panic slowly starting to take her heart, she couldn’t lose him.

“How can I help? What can I do?” The Healers didn’t look back at her, busy trying to knit Thor’s skin back together with whatever few resource they still had while Thor grunted quietly, weakly, brows furrowed from pain.

“Find him something to ease the pain. And pray.”  
She didn’t hesitate to open the bottle she was saving for commemoration and pouring it down his throat, he gulped everything and stood still, holding her hand in a shaky, weak grip.

“There is no saving your eye, your Majesty,” Eir told him in a low tone after cleaning his face and studying the damage Hela had caused and Brunnhilde could feel a knot in her throat.  
“The sword was poisoned, I am sorry. We will have to remove it.”

Brunnhilde wanted to leave and throw up when she saw the open gash across his face and what was left of his eye, but Thor’s weak hand closed around her wrist in fear, he was shaking and she decided she had to be strong, she wouldn’t leave him alone in a moment of need.

“Then do it,” he told the healers, clumsy taking more gulps from the weak booze she had brought him, cleaning his mouth with the back of his hand and steeling himself for the surgery that would follow.

After hours of pain and fear, finally Thor was asleep in a bed they prepared for him on the floor of the engine room, curled around himself, his head resting in Brunnhilde’s lap as she caressed his short hair and rubbed at his arms when he shivered violently from a fever.

He had refused a bedroom, giving them to the families aboard. He was wrapped in white cloths, his body stitched the best way they could, his head wrapped in clean bandages that were changed constantly when they were too soaked with his blood.

Brunnhilde cried for him, knowing he wouldn’t cry for himself as she brushed his shorn hair. She felt so sorry for him, for what happened to him, for his family, for Asgard, for her years of bottled up anger and sadness.  
He was so young to go through all of this and she felt that she could have avoided his pain somehow, praying for the Norns to spare his life.

“I’m never leaving your side. Ever,” she promised, and he gripped her hand in his sleep.


	5. Keep them safe

Thor had recovered from his wounds, just like he had promised he would.  
He looked healthier now, still lean and malnourished, his hair still too shockingly short and his healing eye under the eye patch an echo of the trauma he had endured.  
His vulnerability was something that few people had seen, almost a myth.

He was closer to Brunnhilde now, and she felt like she had to watch his every step.  
He certainly felt she same way towards her, afraid, perhaps, she would decide to pick up her things and flee, disappointed in his ways of ruling.  
So far they had been taking decisions together, all of them, deciding what was the best for their people.

She had realized, under extreme circumstances, just how frail he could be, no matter how powerful or strong he was. He needed someone to look after him or he might crumble and fall. It was her job to keep him upright and safe, brushing their hands together whenever he needed assurance, making shy, small plans about the coming future.

He wanted to be different than his Father, to follow his heart like his Mother. He didn’t think he could avoid becoming his Father’s son in the worst way possible, like Hela and Loki did because blood was thicker than water, and she assured him they all deserved second chances to better themselves.

Heimdall informed them that they would soon have unriquered company. Before they could elaborate a plan, the huge ship appeared abruptly in their radar when they were having their daily - and only - meal. Heimdall warned them of the dangerous occupants of the other ship and Thor cursed under his breath, quietly, trying not to instill the panic in the crew, “what does he want with us?”

Their situation couldn’t be worse. Their ship had been damaged by Hela when they escaped Asgard - just some days ago - and they were yet to mend what was broken. Their ship didn’t have any weapons, it was meant for transportation only. They couldn’t flee, they couldn’t fight. They were stuck in a nightmare when Bruce decided to send a distress message and they were hit by the first blow.

Loki was as pale as a ghost when he declared Thanos was here because of him, for him, and Thor wanted to understand it better, taking his brother by his shoulders to shake him, ordering him to explain how did this happen, why had he made a bait out of them, why had he betrayed Thor and their people.  
Thor had believed they were finally making some progress, that they could be brothers and work together again, that they could try to fix their family.  
“Loki, talk to me, please. Tell me what happened,” Loki was unable to talk, sheer terror contorting his face. 

Valkyrie was ready to deliver the trickster to those who threatened the asgardians, taking out her sword and pointing it under Loki’s chin, but Thor stood between them and shoved her blade away.

“He is my brother. I won’t allow him to be taken from me like this,” he made his point clear by daring all of those who approached Loki with the intention to exchange him for peace with the Titan. 

“What should we do then, your Majesty?” She had her arms crossed, glaring at Loki.  
No matter what Thor said, she didn’t trust Loki and she knew he was the one to blame for Thanos to find them when they were run out of weapons and meanings of defending themselves. He was a liar, a traitor, and she knew a traitor when she saw one.  
But Thor seemed to love Loki somehow and it was this love alone that had her keeping her sword to herself.

The ship started to vibrate and the crowd screamed, people hugging each other and staring at the ceiling in terror at the sound, urging a reaction from Thor who was desperately thinking of a solution, knowing the Titan didn’t want to talk and meeting him halfway could dive his attention from the ship long enough for them to flee.

“How many escape pods are here?” He asked one of the Sakaarians responsible for the engines. The man was shaking in fear.

“Fifteen, big enough for all the passengers, Sir,” he answered Thor, stammering, apprehensively.  
“Not all the passengers are fleeing now, my friend,” he patted the man’s shoulder, turning to the crying crowd.

“Asgard, Sakaar, listen to me,” people stopped crying and looked over their King who stood tall and optimistic in spite of the terror that gripped his heart. Their situation was very complicated, but he wasn’t going to give up on saving a single person.

“You will have to leave this ship. The escape pods are quicker and you are all going to be safe. Stand in line and follow Brunnhilde.”  
Hilde was taken off guard.

“I will stay and fight!” She insisted, protesting, hissing at Thor, closing her hand in a fist to punch his chest in anger, disbelief and betrayal.

“I trust you to guide them safely to Midgard. We need drivers for the pods and there are few saakarians who know the way to Earth,” he explained, already leading people to the escape pods. She hated to admit that he had a point.

“How about you?” She heard the concern in her voice, her eyes searching for his in a desperate attempt to make him see reason. In spite of their terrible situation, he smiled, soothingly running a hand down her face.

“I have Heimdall with me. He has the bifrost to take us out of here. I will meet you on Earth.”  
She wasn’t convinced of his plan and she didn’t have much time to think, the ship shook more violently this time and some children clung to Thor’s legs, he hugged them protectively.

“While I'm dealing with Thanos, I need you to help get everyone off this ship,” she had heard him say it before, and he had survived the impossible. She had to have faith he would make it again, but would he? She had heard about Thanos, of what he did in Xandar, of how powerful and strong he was. 

Once again, Brunnhilde was fearing for Thor’s life, unsure of what to do as he hurried from side to side, assuring that asgardians and sakaarias alike were getting in the pods to flee. She needed him to survive.  
Brunnhilde was so emotional, a turmoil going on her heart and her mind. Should she obey her King, a man she vowed to respect, and at the same time risk leaving the love of her life behind? Thor seemed to read the indecision in her eyes. 

“Take them,” he picked up the small boy who was clinging to him and put him in Brunnhilde’s arms, urgently leading her to the pod as the sirens sound started to fill the ship, signalling that they had company. He turned around and charged his hands in electricity, firing at a dark figure who had invaded the ship, blowing a hole with the figure’s corpse at the wall as the ship started to collapse.

“Take them and go. Lead them to Earth, I,” Brunnhilde clung to the kid in her arms, soothing him as he cried and Thor looked at her with something in his eye, something that had Hilde losing her breath.

“I need you to survive.”  
He pushed her suddenly into the pod, locking the door and she almost tripped, cursing him when he bodily pushed the pods into the space, firing them with lightning to have them moving faster, away from his ship, looking back to the approaching enemies. 

She punched the glass window, shouting at him for locking her out like this. Watching her part, he shook his head, taking his closed fist to his heart in a silent prayer she had seen him making countless times before.  
Thor was pushing the last pods into space when he was shot, dropping to his knees as Brunnhilde screamed.

He summoned his armor before firing back, nodding at Heimdall, following the guardian to face Thanos and his minions, granting them enough time to flee. 

“I love you,” she whispered quietly against the door, reluctantly taking the wheel, trying not to look back as she drove away from the ship, following his last order, but hoping in her heart to turn back and pick him up.

Brunnhilde was in a safe distance when she saw in slow motion the ship exploding, the bright flames engulfing the tiny spaceship where they all had been.

“NO!” She shouted among with the rest of the asgardians and sakaarians, screaming in terror and sadness and for a moment that lasted forever, Brunnhilde watched as everything that Thor have ever been blew up in front of her, losing the love of her life a second time, helplessly witnessing it.

The boy in her arms started crying quietly. She realized she was crying herself, silent tears streaming down her face. 

“Shh, we were going Home,” she told the child, praying that Thor was alive somehow and that he would keep his promise to find them and hear that she loved him from her lips.

Gripping the wheel, determined to accomplish what she promised to him, she lead them all to Earth with wet eyes, shaky hands and an achy heart.


	6. In Heaven or in Hel

Brunnhilde had promised Thor she would lead their people safely to Midgard.  
The escape pods were outdated and slow, but they would do. It was the promise she made that had Brunnhilde sticking to her word, their people relied solely on her now with the entire royal family gone.  
She felt responsible for them, the responsibility she had accepted from Thor’s hands himself. 

Slowly, stopping in different planets and meeting different civilizations, they made deals and got the much needed supplies. Asgard’s name did wonders and people were willing to help wherever they went.

Night and day were irrelevant in space and they were never certain of the hours, days, weeks, months and years passing. Their number increased during this travel and she thought Thor would be proud of her for leading them for so long.

Thor. Not a single day went by without her thoughts on him, if he was alive, if she would meet him again, if he was waiting for her, looking for her. 

She considered they were finally approaching Midgard when a meteor shower pushed their pods away, into a foggy misty in the middle of a far constellation. The pod’s system stopped working and Brunnhilde decided to go out and check the engine when a cold unlike any she had ever felt started creeping in her spine.

The crew felt the same chill, facing again another threat.  
The Norns had turned their face away from them, for they were certainly lost.  
And found in Hela’s domain.

They were brought to the gates of Hel and Brunnhilde knew there was no fighting Hela.  
In her domains, she was the strongest Goddess and her will was the order all creatures followed.  
She had seen Hela conquering the Valkyrior, Thor and Asgard.  
They were no match for the Goddess of Death and in a sudden feeling of release, Brunnhilde felt in her bones that the fight was over.  
No more worrying, no more hunger, pain, fear.  
She looked at the face of the old men and women and they mirrored her expression: they were all resigned. Children cried softly, knowing that Asgard would be no more.

Maybe Thor would finally have some peace if he got rid of this burden, she thought to herself as the pods hit the dusty desert. 

Hela wasn’t waiting for them, but her undead army of zombies welcomed the asgardians and the sakaarias. Brunnhilde sighed, following the path lit by green torches.

“I knew I would have you all here sooner or later,” Hela’s voice seemed to come from everywhere around them. Brunnhilde wasn’t afraid anymore: there was nothing Hela could steal from her. She already had their lives. Or their deaths.  
“I did not expect it to be so soon. Make yourself at Home, this is where you will stay for all eternity. I could not rule Asgard from heaven, I will certainly rule it now from Hel.”

Brunnhilde didn’t want to be mocked in her defeat.  
In the end, Hela had Asgard in her domain and she was the Queen in a dead, cold throne of dead, cold people.  
She found Loki, who was surprised to see them there while he petted Fenrir.  
“I thought Thor would make it. I died so he would make it.”

Brunnhilde couldn’t threat Loki with her fists or her swords, the dead felt no pain.  
She begged him to tell her what happened when they fled.  
And Loki told her of the fight, of the inevitable upper hand Thanos had with the infinity gems. No matter how powerful of how strong Thor was: Thanos wasn’t alone and it was an unfair fight, two against five. 

Thor and Heimdall had fought bravely, but in the end they were beat into pulps on the floor, and Loki had to watch as Thor was tortured right in front of him to make him give the Titan the Tesseract.  
Thor had accepted his fate, and he took comfort in the fact that his people would live even if he died.  
Loki had not, and decided he had to give Thor another chance even if it cost him his life.

“So you had the gem with you all along? You didn’t think it would be clever to let it be consumed with Asgard?” Brunnhilde was shaking in anger, knowing it wouldn’t lead her anywhere. It was too late now.

“I thought I would have something to bargain for my life. In the end, I bargained for Thor’s. Don’t blame me for that. I know you you would do everything for Thor too.”  
Brunnhilde could tell that, as long as Loki didn’t love anything - not even himself - he still loved Thor. And he was right, she would do everything for Thor.  
He became her everything and now they were left with nothing. Not even their lives.

Heimdall joined them with sad eyes. From Hel, he could not see Thor, but they had to accept he was still alive. Otherwise he would have joined them here.

Brunnhilde missed being alive, her sisters, her Queen. But mostly she missed Thor and his warmth, his optimism, his good spirit.  
She had known happiness and love again only to have it ripped from her hands. 

Like in space, time was nonexistent in Hel.  
They didn’t exist, neither did time or anything that once made them beings of flesh and bones: no dreams, no expectations, no hunger or fear or anything else.

They were all frozen, meeting those who died inglorious deaths or those who lived in vain. She never thought she would end up like this and she hardly cared about anything else.  
She had failed Asgard, her sisters and Thor again.

A long time had passed. Entire armies joined them. Some had news of Thor, some died in battles as they tried to defeat the Titan, some had been sent here by the Titan himself. Still some had hope they were close to changing the tides and winning this war.

Maybe it was her imagination playing tricks on her, but she could hear thunder.  
The sound became louder and all those who had eyes and ears in Hel started looking for the sound.  
When she looked up at where the sky was supposed to be, she saw lightning bolts.  
All the asgardians and the sakaarias joined her as she stood up, watching as Hela’s army was attacked by fire, fury and thunder.

For the first time in rained in Hel, and for the first time the earth under their feet felt what life was like when flowers started to bloom in the soiled surface. Brunnhilde closed her eyes as the raindrops hit her face, feeling alive even though she was dead.

There was only one God who could reclaim the throne of both heaven and hel: Thor.  
“He came to challenge Hela for the throne!” One of the undead minions shouted, and Brunnhilde couldn’t believe her eyes: he was alive! He was here! She had to help him.

Calling her brothers, shouting them commands to get in formation, they drove forward as one big mass. She fought her way amidst battle, landing carelessly between troops of undead, running between them, following the sound of thunder that rumbled across the battlefield and feeling her dead heart drumming with it, a prayer and a cry in her lips.

He had came to Hel for her, to save her and all of their people.  
When she finally walked past the sea of enemies with her sword, chopping off heads and arms alike, she stopped to the sight unrolling in front of her: Thor, the only thing alive in Hel, golden and bright, an axe held high in his hands, aiming at the Goddess of Death by his feet before bringing the blade down and stopping it inches away from her face.

“I won. I accepted your challenge and fought you in your domain. Now, release them just like you promised.”  
Hela was fuming with anger, she could not be trusted to keep her promises. Sneering at Thor, she spat.

“Well well, little brother, why won’t you just die and join your people?”  
Mist engulfed Hela and she disappeared. The sudden silence was broken by people cheering behind them, celebrating this battle for their lives.

Brunnhilde was holding her breath, unable to believe her eyes, so when Hela emerged behind Thor with her necrosword aimed to his heart, the Valkyrie was ready and used her own blade to cut off the witch’s head, once for all.  
Hela’s body fell twitching to the floor and Hel itself started to shake. 

Light sipped through a hole in the sky and the brightness was increasing: soon Hel was no more a prison, but a place to rest. Those who wanted to stay would make their own rules and their people who had a second chance to live would follow Thor wherever he lead them. 

Loki shyly approached his brother, unsure, when Thor was greeting Heimdall and their people who wanted to touch him, to bask in his warmth, in his light.  
Thor pulled his brother into a tight embrace unceremoniously and there was no stopping the flood of tears from both the brothers, words of comfort and messy smiles. 

Unable to stop herself, Brunnhilde ran up to him and reached his cheek and let her palm rest there for a moment. She was quiet for another brief passage of time.  
Thor searched for her eyes, hesitant, she could see.  
He couldn’t quite believe he had made it, he had found them, and they were all here reunited again. There was no telling the amount of pain, regret and fear he felt when he failed to save them, when he failed to die, but now here he was: the Norns had granted them a new chance to make it right.  
She grabbed his face, an act so familiar and real he rested his hand above hers. But she was cold. Dead. He leaned into the touch anyway, rubbing his face there, kissing her palm before spilling hot tears into her hand, a painful sob escaping his lips, then another.

“Shh, Thor, it’s alright,” she rubbed his arms, watching him intently: his hair was longer, he looked thinner and wounded, full of new scars, he had mismatching eyes. She missed him so much and she didn’t want him to cry, but she was crying herself. 

Thor’s sobs shook his entire body and he couldn't stay on his feet anymore, sliding to his knees, crying like a lost child, pulling her down with him to hug her so tightly she wasn't sure she could breath, his tears falling into her hair as he clung to her desperately.

Never did she think she would see Thor falter like that, he always seemed to get up and move on, never one to break down. But no one was made of stone, and no one was all brawn. Breaking down was the very least the universe could allow him.  
Thor didn't know in how much pain he was in until it slowly faded away. Occasional sobs still shook his body when he stood back up and cleaned his nose on his dirty sleeves, drying his eyes, looking at her with a love so intense it could give life to a dead star. To a dead realm. To dead people. And it did. 

"I love you, Brunnhilde," he told her, quickly, quietly, afraid he wouldn't have a chance again.  
"I should have told you sooner. I thought you had died without knowing it," he explained, tears still streaming down his face.  
She was out of words, out of breath, watching him like he was out of this world. Which he was.  
“I am sorry it took me so long to find you, I-” Brunnhilde interrupted his nonsense speech by finally pulling him down by his growing hair and crashing their lips together, kissing him like she meant to do all this time ago.  
Thor smiled into the teary kiss, sliding his hands into her hair, pulling her by the waist.  
After what felt like an eternity, they pulled apart to breath, still held in each other’s arms.

“I love you too,” she finally admitted, resting their foreheads together and inhaling his petrichor smell. She had missed it so much.  
“Don’t ever leave me again,” she closed her hand into a fist to punch his chest.  
“Promise me!”  
He chuckled, taking his closed fist to his heart.

“I promise. We have a Titan to kill.”  
She smiled, taking his hand and allowing him to lead the way out of Hel, to give them life again, to take them to Earth by the Bifrost embedded in the axe he used to chop off Thanos’ head with a quick swing of his weapon and released all of those who were snapped. 

Life never seemed so bright by his side and Brunnhilde knew that giving her heart a new chance for love was the best decision she took in her life.


End file.
